Photonic band gap router

ABSTRACT

An arrangement includes a photonic band-gap assembly comprising at least one input wave guide and at least one output wave guides, and at least one routing element responsive to signals to selectively route a signal from the input wave guide to one or more of the output wave guides.

BACKGROUND

The pace of information exchange continues to grow. More and more demandis placed upon telecommunication infrastructure both within and amongorganizations, as well as among individuals. There is also a need forenormous information bandwidth within modern computing devices, such ascomputers, cell phones, and other communication and computing machines.To meet this rising demand, electronic switches and routers have grownincreasingly powerful. However, the inherent limitations in electronicswitching have motivated the search for primarily optical informationexchange solutions.

SUMMARY

The following summary is intended to highlight and introduce someaspects of the disclosed embodiments, but not to limit the scope of theinvention. Thereafter, a detailed description of illustrated embodimentsis presented, which will permit one skilled in the relevant art to makeand use aspects of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art canobtain a full appreciation of aspects of the invention from thesubsequent detailed description, read together with the figures, andfrom the claims (which follow the detailed description).

In one embodiment, an arrangement includes a photonic band-gap materialcomprising at least one input wave guide and at least one output waveguides, and at least one routing element responsive to signals toselectively route a signal from the input wave guide to one or more ofthe output wave guides.

In one embodiment the routing element may comprise amicro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) element.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.

In the drawings, the same reference numbers and acronyms identifyelements or acts with the same or similar functionality for ease ofunderstanding and convenience. To easily identify the discussion of anyparticular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in areference number refer to the figure number in which that element isfirst introduced.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement having routing elements with four selectable routingdirections.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement having routing elements with two selectable routingdirections.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement having routing elements with a single selectablerouting direction.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement for time division multiplexing and/or wave divisionmultiplexing.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement for wave de-multiplexing.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of a communication systemincorporating a photonic bandgap router

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

The invention will now be described with respect to various embodiments.The following description provides specific details for a thoroughunderstanding of, and enabling description for, these embodiments of theinvention. However, one skilled in the art will understand that theinvention may be practiced without these details. In other instances,well known structures and functions have not been shown or described indetail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of theembodiments of the invention. References to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, althoughthey may.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement having routing elements with four selectable routingdirections. The arrangement comprises a photonic band-gap material 104.Generally speaking, photonic band-gap materials have the property ofpreventing electromagnetic radiation having some discrete wavelength orrange of wavelengths (the photonic band gap) from propagating along agiven direction in a material. The photonic band-gap material may becharacterized by periodicity of dielectric properties in two or threedimensions, and may comprise holes, defects, cavities, or other elementsin layers of dielectric materials that give rise to the band-gapbehavior.

In one approach, a photonic band-gap material may comprise a periodicdielectric structure, a metallic-dielectric crystal, a semiconductormaterial, a ceramic material, a magnetic material, an atomic-molecularstructure or any other structure configured to produce such effects. Thestructure is typically formed with one or more of a square latticestructure, a triangular lattice structure, a hexagonal latticestructure, a Kagome structure, a graphite structure, a woodpilestructure, an opal structure, an inverse opal structure, or a Braggstack, to name some of the possibilities. Examples of photonic band-gapmaterials include one or more of silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide,or indium phosphide. While the structures above refer commonly tocrystal lattice materials, other types of structures may be formed asphotonic materials. For example, photonic structures have been producedby forming a series of holes in a material. In another alternative, ametamaterial-based photonic material is presented in U.S. Pat. No.6,589,334 to John, et al, entitled Photonic Bandgap Materials Based onPosts in a Lattice.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, a photonic band-gap assembly 104comprises input apertures 111, 112 and output apertures 109,110. Thenumber of apertures varies and there may be more or fewer apertures thanthose shown. Moreover, the term aperture is not intended to be limitedto direct coupling through a port. For example, in some approaches, suchas evanescent coupling, diffractive couplers, energy may be coupled intoa crystal, material, or other structure in a variety of manners thatwould not necessarily be considered to be conventional apertures. One ormore electromagnetic signals enter the input apertures 111,112 and, byway of one or more input wave guides, are guided to one or more routingelements 105-108. The photonic band-gap assembly 104 may comprise one ormore input waveguides and one or more output wave guides. While the termwaveguide is used herein for directness of presentation, in a photonicassembly, the term may be directed toward a variety of structures thatpreferentially direct or restrict the propagation direction of photons.In many applications, the guiding aspect may be specific to photonscorresponding to light of substantially a single wavelength or may berelevant to photons corresponding to light or a range or more than onerange of wavelengths.

The wave guides may arise from defect regions in the repeating atomicstructure of the band-gap material. The wave guides may include regionscomprising material having a substantially different dielectric propertythan surrounding material. The wave guides may include surface and/orinterior regions of the photonic band-gap assembly.

The routing elements 105-108, responsive to communication 113 from thecontrol logic 102, route the electromagnetic signals to one or more ofthe output apertures 109,110, to other routing elements, or to otherdesired locations. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the routing elements105-108, responsive to control signals 113, may route electromagneticsignals in four possible selectable routing directions.

The photonic band-gap assembly comprises at least one routing element105-108 responsive to signals to selectively route a signal from theinput wave guide to one or more of the plurality of output wave guides.A routing element 105-108 may include a photoresponsive, photorefractiveand/or photoabsorptive material. A routing element 105-108 may include acompound or alloy formed from elements in columns III and V of theperiodic table, one or more electronically, magnetically or mechanicallymovable elements, and/or material having a reflectivity and-orrefraction index that varies according to at least one of an appliedelectrical, optical, magnetic, mechanical, acoustic, or other indexaffecting influence. A routing element 105-108 may include amicro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) element.

A MEMS element may include an electrically actuated MEMS circuit havingat least one dimension on the order of one or a few microns. Anelectrically actuated MEMS circuit may include an electricallyresponsive actuator to displace at least one of lattice points orimpurities to affect a geometry of at least one of the wave guides. Theelectrically responsive actuator may include a piezo-electric crystal.The MEMS element may include lattice points of at least one of the waveguides.

Alternatively, other types of MEMS elements or non-MEMS elements may beappropriate, depending upon the application or configuration. In someapplications, for example, the MEMS element may be magnetically orelectrostatically driven. In another approach, the routing element105-108 may include a material whose properties are controllable. In oneexample, the routing element 105-108 may include portion formed from amaterial having a dielectric constant, index of refraction, or dimensionthat is a function of an applied electric or magnetic field. Suchmaterials may include electrooptic materials, magnetostrictivematerials, electroactive polymers, or other types of materials. Theportion may affect the waveguide properties directly or indirectly. Forexample, the portion may affect the actual dimension of the waveguide byforming a portion of the waveguide wall or by applying a force to amaterial forming a portion of the waveguide wall.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting t arrangement having routing elements with two selectablerouting directions. The routing elements 205-208 respond to controlsignals 113 to route electromagnetic signals in two selectabledirections. In this case the routing element 205-208 routing directionsare down or to the right, although the selectable directions may vary innumber and direction in other embodiments.

To provide full routing for the electromagnetic signals in alldirections, curved wave guides are provided. The combination of therouting elements 205-208 moving signals only to the right or down, andcurved (and possibly also straight) output wave guides provides for fullrouting of the electromagnetic signals. For example, a signal enteringaperture 111 is guided by an input wave guide to routing element 205,where, responsive to signals from the control logic 102, the signal isrouted down to routing element 207. From there it is routed to theright, traversing an output wave guide to exit aperture 110.

A signal entering aperture 112 is guided to routing element 206, whichroutes the signal into an output (what may also be referred to as anintermediate) waveguide with a ninety degree upward bend. Consequently,the signal arrives at routing element 208, which routes the signal toanother wave guide having a ninety degree bend. As a result, the signalexits via aperture 109. Thus, a signal entering the arrangement may beeffectively routed up and to the left, whereas another signal using thesame routing elements may be routed to the right and down.

Thus, the photonic band-gap assembly may comprise straight and/or bentwaveguides, with the bent waveguides sometimes including one or moreconfigured to produce a substantially ninety degree turn (or more) inthe direction of a signal. In some approaches, the waveguide may have agradual bend or may include an internal structure designed to direct thephotons at a relatively abrupt angle. An example of an abrupt angle maybe a 90 degree turn.

Band-gap routing arrangements may include at least one routing elementsuch as 205-208 which includes a first set of routing elements having afirst set of routing directions, and a second set of routing elementshaving a second set of routing directions, the second set of routingdirections substantially orthogonal to the first set of routingdirections.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement having routing elements with a single selectablerouting direction. A signal entering aperture 112 is guided to routingelement 306, which in this example can route only to the right. However,because it is desired to route the signal upwards, the control logic 102causes the signal to be routed right-wards to a wave guide comprising anupward bend. Consequently, the signal arrives at routing element 308,which, in this example, can also route only to the right. Because it isdesired to route the signal to the left, the signal is routed to a waveguide having a one-hundred eighty degree bend. Consequently, the signalexits via aperture 109.

Thus, one or more of the output wave guides of a band-gap routingarrangement may be adapted to produce a substantially one hundred eightydegree turn in the direction of a signal. In some embodiments, one ormore of the output wave guides may be adapted to produce a substantiallytwo hundred seventy degree turn in the direction of a signal. Also, theturns are not confined to a single plane in all embodiments. It may bedesirable in many applications to direct photons into or out of plane toprovide greater design flexibility. In such embodiments, the designflexibility can allow directing photons along paths in substantially anydirection, including vertical, horizontal, combinations thereof, and/orreflections back along the path of arrival.

Band-gap routing arrangements may include at least one routing elementsuch as 306-308 which includes four sets of routing elements, each sethaving a routing direction different than the others.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement for time division multiplexing and/or wave divisionmultiplexing. An electromagnetic signal enters the band-gap routingarrangement through aperture 102 and encounters routing element 107,which directs the signal to aperture 105. An electromagnetic signalenters the band-gap routing arrangement through aperture 103 andencounters routing element 108, upon which it is directed to aperture105. The control logic (memory instructions, data, and/or circuits todefine control signals for a process) influences the at least onerouting elements 107-108 to selectively route signals from differentinput wave guides to a same output wave guide during different timeintervals. The routing may be done periodically, asynchronously, oraccording to another appropriate protocol.

In the figure, the two input signals are initially routed by twodifferent routing elements 107-108, but the control logic may alsoinfluence one routing element such as 107 or 108 to selectively andconcurrently route a plurality of input signals on different input waveguides to the same output wave guide.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an embodiment of a photonic band-gaprouting arrangement for wavelength de-multiplexing. At least one of therouting elements 107,108 is adapted to deflect certain radiationwavelengths and to transmit others. (Routing element 108 is so adaptedin the figure). Alternatively or additionally, a first waveguide such as107 or 108 may be adapted to transmit a plurality of wavelengths, withthe first waveguide abutted to a second waveguide adapted to transmit asubset of the plurality of wavelengths and to block transmission of atleast one of the plurality of wavelengths.

In a similar fashion, the routing elements of FIG. 5 can be activatedselectively to direct photons of one or more wavelength along selectedpaths on a time division basis. Such activation can produce timedivision demultiplexing using protocols similar to those used in othersystems that use switching to demultiplex.

FIG. 6 shows a communication system 600 incorporating a photonic bandgaprouter 602. The photonic bandgap router 602 may be any one of thepreviously described routers, or a router incorporating features of anyof them. An optical system 604, which may be a fiber optic network,local network, or other system in which optical signals are routed,provides one or more input signals to one or more input ports 606 of therouter 600. A control system 608 provides control signals to thephotonic router to selectively control the transfer of signals from theinput ports 606 to one or more output ports 610.

In one approach, the control system 608 may be a time based controlsystem that implements a time division multiplexing or demultiplexingprotocol. In another approach, the control system may activate therouter to produce wavelength division multiplexing or demultiplexing. Instill other approaches, the control system 608 can direct signals, whichmay include selectively directed packets, according to other networkcontrol algorithms, or a combination of such algorithmic controls withmultiplexing or demultiplexing. For example, in one approach, thecontrol system 608 selectively controls routing of packets ofinformation according to known routing techniques, such as are describedin Bernstein, et al, Optical Network Control: Architecture, Protocols,and Standards, ISBN: 0201753014 (2003), which is incorporated herein byreference. Moreover, routing may be directed globally or may be directedaccording to individual packet addressing approaches, such as IPaddressing approaches.

Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems described herein can beeffected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that thepreferred vehicle will vary with the context in which the processes aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a hardware and/orfirmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a solely software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes described herein may be effected, none of which isinherently superior to the other in that any vehicle to be utilized is achoice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be deployedand the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability)of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilled in the art willrecognize that optical aspects of implementations will requireoptically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood as notorious by those within the art that each functionand/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples canbe implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range ofhardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof.Several portions of the subject matter described herein, including thecontrol system 608 may be implemented via Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs),digital signal processors (DSPs), or other integrated formats. However,those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of theembodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalentlyimplemented in standard integrated circuits, as one or more computerprograms running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programsrunning on one or more computer systems), as one or more programsrunning on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs runningon one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually anycombination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing thecode for the software and/or firmware would be well within the skill ofone of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subjectmatter described herein are capable of being distributed as a programproduct in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment ofthe subject matter described herein applies equally regardless of theparticular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out thedistribution. Examples of a signal bearing media include, but are notlimited to, the following: recordable type media such as floppy disks,hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital tape, and computer memory; andtransmission type media such as digital and analog communication linksusing TDM or IP based communication links (e.g., packet links).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use standard engineering practices to integrate suchdescribed devices and/or processes into larger systems. That is, atleast a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into a network processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation.

The foregoing described aspects depict different components containedwithin, or connected with, different other components. It is to beunderstood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, andthat in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achievethe same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement ofcomponents to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated”such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any twocomponents herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can beseen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionalityis achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components.Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being“operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achievethe desired functionality.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from this subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of this subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention isdefined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those withinthe art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in theappended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generallyintended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should beinterpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” shouldbe interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should beinterpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will befurther understood by those within the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will beexplicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitationno such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, thefollowing appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases“at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.However, the use of such phrases should NOT be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” and/or “oneor more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense of one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together). In those instances where a convention analogous to“at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such aconstruction is intended in the sense of one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together).

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or pluralnumber also include the plural or singular number respectively.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, shall refer to this applicationas a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Whenthe claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or moreitems, that word covers all of the following interpretations of theword: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and anycombination of the items in the list. While various aspects andembodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodimentswill be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects andembodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and arenot intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit beingindicated by the following claims.

1. An arrangement comprising: a photonic band-gap assembly having aphotonic band-gap in first, second, and third directions that are notall coplanar, the photonic band-gap assembly comprising: at least oneinput optical wave guide in a first plane, the first plane being definedby the at least one input optical wave guide and the first and seconddirection; and at least one output optical wave guide non-coplanar withthe at least one input optical wave guide, wherein the at least oneoutput optical wave guide is in a second plane different from the firstplane, the second plane being at least partially defined by the at leastone output optical wave guide and the third direction; and wherein thephotonic band-gap assembly includes at least one routing elementresponsive to signals to selectively route a signal from one or more ofthe at least one input optical wave guide to one or more of the at leastone output optical wave guide.
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 42. An arrangement comprising: a photonic band-gap assemblyhaving a photonic band-gap in first, second, and third directions thatare not all coplanar, the photonic band-gap assembly comprising aplurality of input wave guides and a plurality of output wave guides;wherein a first wave guide in the plurality of input wave guides is in afirst plane, the first plane being defined by the first wave guide andthe first and second directions; wherein a second wave guide in theplurality of output wave guides is in a second plane different from thefirst plane, the second plane being at least partially defined by thesecond wave guide and the third direction; and at least one routingelement responsive to signals to selectively direct a signal or signalsfrom at least one of the input wave guides to at least one of the outputwave guides.
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 46. (canceled)47. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein the photonic band-gap assemblyfurther comprises: a semiconductor material.
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 50. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein the at least onerouting element responsive to signals further comprises: aphotoresponsive material.
 51. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein theat least one routing element responsive to signals further comprises: aphotorefractive or photoabsorptive material.
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 53. Thearrangement of claim 42, wherein the at least one routing elementresponsive to signals further comprises: a first set of routing elementshaving a first set of routing directions, and a second set of routingelements having a second set of routing directions, the second set ofrouting directions substantially orthogonal to the first set of routingdirections.
 54. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein the at least onerouting element responsive to signals further comprises: four sets ofrouting elements, each set having a routing direction different than theothers.
 55. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein the at least onerouting element responsive to signals further comprises: a materialhaving a reflectivity and-or refraction index that varies according toat least one of an applied electrical, optical, or magnetic influence.56. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein the at least one routingelement responsive to signals further comprises: amicro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) element.
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 64. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein the at least onerouting element responsive to signals further comprises: apiezo-electric crystal.
 65. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein theplurality of output wave guides further comprise: one or more waveguides adapted to produce a substantially one hundred eighty degree turnin the direction of a signal.
 66. The arrangement of claim 42, whereinthe plurality of output wave guides further comprise: one or more waveguides adapted to produce a substantially two hundred seventy degreeturn in the direction of a signal.
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 68. The arrangement ofclaim 42, wherein at least one of the input wave guide in the pluralityof input wave guides and the output wave guide in the plurality ofoutput wave guides further comprise: one or more wave guides shaped toproduce a substantially ninety degree turn in the direction of a signal.69. The arrangement of claim 42, wherein at least one of the input waveguide in the plurality of input wave guides and the output wave guide inthe plurality of output wave guides further comprise: defect regions ina repeating atomic structure.
 70. The arrangement of claim 42, whereinat least one of the input wave guide in the plurality of input waveguides and the output wave guide in the plurality of output wave guidesfurther comprise: regions comprising material having a substantiallydifferent dielectric property than surrounding material.
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 73. The arrangement of claim 42, further comprising: afirst wave guide adapted to transmit a plurality of wavelengths, thefirst wave guide aligned to a second wave guide adapted to transmit asubset of the plurality of wavelengths and to block transmission of atleast one of the plurality of wavelengths.
 74. A method comprising:directing a signal along a first path, in a first plane, in a firstregion having a three-dimensional photonic band gap, thethree-dimensional photonic band gap having a first photonic band gap ina first direction, a second photonic band gap in a second directiondifferent from the first direction, and a third photonic band gap in athird direction different from the first and second directions, whereinthe first, second, and third directions are not all coplanar; routingthe signal from the first path in the first plane to a second path in asecond plane, the second plane being in the first region and differentfrom and non-coplanar with the first plane, by altering at least aportion of one or more of the first, second, or third photonic bandgaps; and directing the signal along the second path in the secondplane.
 75. The method of claim 74 wherein routing the signal from thefirst path in the first plane to a second path in a second planeincludes routing through substantially a ninety degree turn in adirection of propagation of the signal.
 76. The method of claim 74,wherein routing the signal from the first path in the first plane to asecond path in a second plane includes routing through substantially aone hundred eighty degree turn in a direction of propagation of thesignal.
 77. The method of claim 74, wherein routing the signal from thefirst path in the first plane to a second path in a second planeincludes routing through substantially a two hundred seventy degree turnin a direction of propagation of the input signal.
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 90. The method of claim 74 wherein altering atleast a portion of one or more of the first, second, or third photonicband gaps includes actuating a first routing element.
 91. The method ofclaim 74 wherein altering at least a portion of one or more of thefirst, second, or third photonic band gaps includes receiving acommunication from control logic.
 92. The method of claim 74 whereindirecting a signal along a first path, in a first plane, in a firstregion having a three-dimensional photonic band gap includes directingthe signal with the three-dimensional photonic band gap.
 93. The methodof claim 74 wherein directing the signal along the second path in thesecond plane includes directing the signal with the three-dimensionalphotonic band gap.